Roy Hodgson’s 23-man England squad with few surprises

England have provided few surprises with the 23 that they will be taking to the European Championships in France this summer.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart of Manchester City will start as first choice, with Fraser Forster of Southampton and Championship side Burnley’s Tom Heaton providing back up for England’s Number One.
Roy Hodgson has selected seven defenders as Kyle Walker and Nathaniel Clyne of Tottenham and Liverpool will compete for the right back berth.

Only three central defenders will go to the Euros for England, as Manchester United’s Chris Smalling, Everton’s John Stones and Chelsea centre-half Gary Cahill are named in Hodgson’s squad, while Ryan Bertrand of Southampton and Danny Rose (Tottenham) are England’s left backs for the summer.

Eight midfielders were selected by England manager Roy Hodgson, with Danny Drinkwater and Andros Townsend controversially left out.
Liverpool trio Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Adam Lallana are all on the plane, as well as Tottenham duo Dele Alli and Eric Dier. Ross Barkley of Everton, Jack Wilshere of Arsenal and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling make up the rest of the midfield.

Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney is one of five strikers selected by Hodgson, with wonderkid and United Marcus Rashford the surprise inclusion.
England have gambled on the fitness of Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge, while in Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy the Three Lions have two of the hottest strikers in Europe today.

Five key players in England squad

Wayne Rooney
Rooney is by far and away the most experienced player England have at their disposal, having first made his debut back in 2003 against Australia. Doubts have been cast by some over his right to start by some, and it may even be as an attacking midfielder that Rooney finds his place. Nevertheless, he has 52 goals from 110 caps.

Harry Kane
Kane has had a stellar last two seasons for both club and country. His 25 league goals for Tottenham this season were enough to earn him the Premier League’s Golden Boot as Spurs finished third. He scored just two minutes into his international debut against Lithuania during qualifying for the Euros, and has five goals in just 11 games for his country.

Jamie Vardy
Vardy’s story is one for football’s romanticists. Just four years ago, the ex-Sheffield Wednesday trainee was playing for Fleetwood Town of the Conference before a £1m move to Leicester City arose. Vardy was part of the Foxes team that won promotion to the Premier League in 2014, before playing a key role in the Foxes fairytaletitle win this season. He only just missed out on the Golden Boot with 24 goals, and has scored three goals in seven internationals.

Joe Hart
Hart is one of few experienced internationals going England currently have, having been a Three Lions regular for six years. 29-year-old Hart has made 58 England appearances since his debut back in 2008 as well as 347 Manchester City appearances, and his performances will be key with England’s inexperienced defence if they are to progress far in the tournament.

Dele Alli
Alli is in the England setup following his first full season with Tottenham. The attacking midfielder made the most senior appearances by a teenage following his breakthrough with the MK Dons aged 16. He won Match of the Day’s goal of the season for a stunning volley against Crystal Palace and scored on his full England debut against France in November, and also played a key role as England came from 2-0 down to beat Germany 3-2 in Berlin.